December 2010

December 27, 2010

Jon Kitna wasn’t in the locker room Monday after straining his left oblique muscles in the second quarter against Arizona. Interim coach Jason Garrett said Kitna is day to day and will start if he’s healthy enough. But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted that Kitna faces “a real challenge” to be ready to play in the team’s finale.

"It’s not a hip pointer," Jones said. "It’s more of a stomach muscle issue there. That’s harder to deal with and harder to overcome if you’re trying to overcome pain. You can do some stuff with hip pointers that you can’t do with some of that other. I would say there would be some work to do, maybe the extra [three] hours we’ve got will make a difference there. There’s no way I know medically how it will work. But he’s got a real challenge playing."

Jones was referring to the game being moved from noon to 3:15 p.m. Sunday.

Kitna is 4-5 as the Cowboys' starter in place of Tony Romo, who the Cowboys placed on injured reserve last week with a broken left clavicle. Kitna has completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 2,365 yards with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

"His health will be the No. 1 factor at play," Garrett said. "Can he play? Can he practice well enough to play in this game on Sunday? So that’s the No. 1 consideration. If he’s not able to do that, we will play Stephen. But if he’s able to do that, Jon will be our quarterback."

Stephen McGee’s biggest worry wasn’t the Cardinals defense. Or his lack of reps with the first-team offense. Or even making the right reads.

It was taking the snap.

“There is no play without the snap,” McGee said Monday. “I knew that. I didn’t want the ball on the ground. That would be the worst thing that could happen on any play. That’s why that is such a big deal.”

McGee had taken only a handful of snaps from starting center Andre Gurode in McGee’s two seasons on the team. McGee said Gurode snaps are different than backup Phil Costa, who McGee takes the majority of his snaps from.

“Just the location of where they snap the ball to [is different],” McGee said. “You would think you just put your hand underneath their butt, but they have different spots that the ball goes to. One guy could be 4 inches [different than the other in where they deliver the snap]. If you look at your hand, 4 inches is a big difference. The ball’s on your pinkie compared to being on your palm.”

Gurode lauded McGee, who had no botched snaps in 42 plays.

“I think he did real good job handling everything,” Gurode said. “He came in and made some real big plays, and he did a great job.”

Stephen McGee will not know if he is going to play against the Eagles until later in the week. Cowboys interim coach Jason Garrett said Monday that if Jon Kitna is physically able to play, he will start.

Kitna’s left oblique was injured against the Cardinals on Saturday and McGee played the last two quarters of the game. He rallied the Cowboys from an 11-point deficit to take the lead at 26-24 with 1:41 left in a game they would lose 27-24.

McGee said the experience of playing in his first regular season game would be beneficial.

“There are so many things you can learn from and take,” McGee said Monday. “Definitely being out there and playing, getting those snaps, those are priceless. A confidence boost. ‘Hey, I’ve got that out of the way. I’ve taken snaps. I’ve played.’ There are a lot of plays from that game I can draw from and use this week to really focus on and get better.”

McGee said that waiting on the sidelines had not been as difficult as someone might expect.

“My spirits are always up,” he said. “I love doing what I do. This is an honor for me to be a Dallas Cowboy and come up here to Valley Ranch every day. That’s an honor. People are dying for that job and I get to do that every day and play a game that I love. That’s as good as it gets. Why wouldn’t my spirits be up about that? I get to go out there and play ball and do what I do. That’s a dream come true from me.”

Jerry Jones has been expressing disappointment for much of the season, which is understandable since the year began with Super Bowl talk and ends with the Cowboys with double-digit losses.

Wade Phillips has already paid for his role, becoming the first Cowboys head coach to be fired during a season.

And at the end of the year, some players are also going to pay -- including some starters. Jones obviously did not name names, but when asked if the roster could simply be tweaked to make the Cowboys a playoff team, he said:

“That’s a good question in the sense that if you look at what happens with teams, generally in most years you’re looking at replacing a third of your roster. We’ve certainly got players that we had to play this year that were a part of starting returners that are suspect. . . . I’d say that it’s very likely that we’ll have more turnover. That wasn’t your question but it’s likely we’ll have a lot more turnover this year than we had last year.”

After two costly celebration penalties earlier in the season, it stands to reason that every member of the Cowboys would avoid showboating after a TD. But even though Marion Barber is a captain and is supposed to be setting an example for teammates, he was penalized for taking his helmet off after scoring a TD against Arizona on Saturday.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and interim coach Jason Garrett made sharp comments after the game, and Garrett was still firm about the matter Monday.

“One of the things we wanted to do was address it immediately,” Garrett said. “He obviously made a heck of a good run. And he’s a very emotional player, but you have to channel those emotions. He was excited about making that play for us in the game and how it could contribute to our success going forward in the game.

“He just made a poor decision. He let his emotions get the best of him. He came over and he probably apologized to me 50 times before I even came close to him. And he knew what he did. And he knew it was a mistake.

“And at that point what we needed to do as a football team was go forward. We needed to somehow rectify the situation by picking him up with our special teams and picking him up with our defense and continue to go out there and score points offensively and give us a chance to win. He made a mistake and he knew it, and we had to move forward from it.”

The Cowboys defense diluted the mistake by Barber, holding the Cardinals to a three-and-out situation. But considering the penalties against Marc Colombo and Sam Hurd earlier in the season, it was a thoughtless mistake by Barber.

The NFL considered moving the Cowboys-Eagles Sunday afternoon game to Monday night because of the storm that has paralyzed much of the East Coast. That blizzard caused the Eagles game with Minnesota to be moved from Sunday night to Tuesday night.

If the Eagles do not get a first-round bye and have to play a wild-card game, however, a Monday night game would shorten their preparation and recovery time.

Ultimately, sources said, the NFL decided that it was better for the Eagles to have a short week in the regular season rather than in the playoffs, so the game against the Cowboys will be played at 3:15 p.m. Sunday.

Jerry Jones held an impromptu press conference Monday afternoon and talked extensively about the head coaching position.

Jason Garrett has been the interim coach after replacing Wade Phillips at midseason, but the NFL’s Rooney Rule requires teams to interview minority candidates when a head coaching position is open.

Here were Jones’ comments on hiring the head coach.

Q: How much do you think about the coaching decision?

Jones: I want us to have a good and as positive of a situation as we can have as we make the decision relative to the head coach here after the season is over with. I’ve been thinking about doing any and everything we can to be positive. And it is positive for Jason for the team to come in and play well. A game like the other night gives you two perspectives. You can take a look at the last five or six ballgames and you can be critical of it, or you can take a look at it and have some positive things to look at it, too. I’m looking at it from the positive.

Q: What is your timetable?

Jones: I don’t know yet. I’m not so sure what our timeframe is. We’re spending quite a bit of time here in the last 2 or 3 days making sure we’ve got the timetable that the league requires relative to any interviews or relative to any decisions.

Q: Does the pending lockout have any impact in the coaching change?

Jones: Yes. It just impacts it. We’ve got that to look at. It’s potentially, it’d be irresponsible to have that under consideration. But we’re probably not going to know in all likelihood where we are in that respect with our labor situation. We’re not going to know anything for the first weeks. There will be a lot of activity regarding our team and any decisions regarding the coach.

Q: Will the loss to Arizona affect your thinking regarding the coaching decision?

Jones: I’ve said this, and I must say that I’m giving that as a neutral there. I like the way our team hung in there, coming back in adverse situation. It was certainly adverse when we lost Kitna. So I’m giving that as a neutral. I’m not negative about that game – as it relates to future decisions with our coaches.

Q: Before you hired Wade, you interviewed 10 guys . . .

Jones: Well, I was real proud of the group we interviewed, but they’re falling like flies. Or at least in trouble. At one point, I thought we were zeroed in on the guys. But it’s changed pretty fast. That was then. This is now. I don’t know one way or the other that you’ll have that kind of extensive interviewing. But I doubt that we will, have that kind of extensive interviewing.

Q: Do you already have your candidate list?

Jones: Yes, I’ve had a list and keep a list of perspective coaches as it would relate to their lineage, where they’ve had their experience, what they not only have done if they were college coaches or what they have done if they’ve been assistant coaches around the NFL or what they’ve done as head coaches. I think I mentioned to some of you that for instance there’s never been a coach win the Super Bowl and go someplace else and win it, and that’s long odds.

Q: Jon Gruden and Bill Cowher are out then?

Jones: “No, I’m just saying that’s long odds. That’s worth noting.”

Q:You want to be the first?

Jones: That’s a good point. But the other odds are there’s a lot to be said, and I’m a big believer in having never done something and then getting the opportunity to do it. And of course, that sets that up right there, to be the first coach to ever win it someplace else. But I’m a big believer that that initial proving it out is a big motivator.”

Q: Under the Rooney Rule, would you consider interviewing Ray Sherman [the receivers coach] or an outsider?

Jones: I’ll do both. Not that that is the rule, but I will do both. It’s just too logical for me, if we’ve got qualified people on our staff, to interview them. And it’s too illogical to say that you’ll leave it at that. There’s qualified people out here that you would want to interview.

A little more than month ago, Chris Greisen was playing in the United Football League championship game. He had a good one, although it came in a losing effort. Greisen completed 24 of 42 passes for 346 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns.

The Cowboys were familiar with Greisen, a seventh round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 1999. Greisen spent two years playing for the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League, and they were owned by the Cowboys.

In fact, former Desperados coach Will McClay, who is the Cowboys pro scouting coordinator, made the call to Greisen to ask if he wanted to join the Cowboys.

“It’s a great Christmas present,” said Greisen, who will be the backup quarterback behind Stephen McGee against the Eagles if Jon Kitna cannot play. “It’s a great opportunity to come in and learn from Jason. I’m trying to soak up as fast as I can to be prepared in case something happened to Stephen.”

Greisen, 34, is a classic journeyman. After college at Northwest Missouri State, he was third team quarterback for the Cardinals for three years, was on the Redskins practice squad and has played in two arena leagues, NFL Europe and NFL Europe.

When asked if he could dream about putting on a Cowboys uniform, he said, “You always dream. To come in with this organization with the tradition that it has, especially at the quarterback position, it’s a great honor. Now my job is to just put in the preparation, get ready if my number’s called.”

Griesen had a playbook under his arm while he was talking in the locker room and said the next few days are going to be “an extensive, intensive study this week.”

Ultimately, however, Griesen said he will take a common sense approach if he is suddenly thrust into the game Sunday.

“The one thing I have to remember, that I will remember, is that it’s 11-on-11 out there,” said Greisen, who was born in Wisconsin and lives in Green Bay, “and just allow my God-given instincts to come out and hopefully play well.”

Griesen does come from a good football family. His brother and grandfather played in the NFL.

Even before the gut-wrenching loss to the Cardinals, which made Jerry Jones "mad as hell" after the game, the Cowboys owner cast a pall on interim coach Jason Garrett's candidacy for the full-time job during an interview on the NFL Network.

Jones said he has always been impressed with Garrett and was undoubtedly excited aboout the team's ability to win four of the first six games since he took over for the fired Wade Phillps. But Jones also noted that Garrett remains an inexperienced coach and that was going to be a huge factor in his decision.

Jones is hoping for a quick turnaround after this nightmarish season and he doesn't know if he wants a coach learning on the job.

"There is no doubt he has the skills to be a head coach in the National Football League," Jones said. "The question is when? The facts are that he's had five games where he's been a head coach that includes junior high schools, high schools, all of them. We don't have time to have a bad time with the Dallas Cowboys. We need to hit the ground running next year; this has been too much of a disappointment this year. That's the thing I am going to be thinking about -- the experience factor."